Paper Hearts (Book Five)

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Four

So I'm not supposed to love you no more

I guess I'm not supposed to care

I held you so close, now I'm holding a ghost

How can love just disappear?

"I don't think this is a wise idea." Zayn said, looking at the house in front of us. I sighed as I turned off my car, looking over at Zayn.

"He's my only shot Zayn..."

"Well according to you he's the one who took him." Zayn scoffed, shaking his head before unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Like I said, he's my one shot. You don't have to go in with me." I said, already climbing out of the car. Zayn rolled his eyes before climbing out after me, standing by my side.

"You're gonna get yourself killed Harry." Zayn whispered, his eyes almost begging me to turn back around.

"He's got my son." I said, almost as if that was the perfect reason to risk my own life.

In my eyes it was.

Because my kids were my life.

"I really hope you know what you're doing." Zayn said again, shaking his head before we started to walk towards the door. I frowned when I saw it was ajar slightly, almost as if someone had broken into the home...

"Ashton?" I called out, opening the door completely when there was no answer. Zayn walked behind me nervously, almost grabbing my arm as we did.

"Ashton? Laci?" I called out again, earning no reply from either. I kept walking, trying to figure out why the hell he wasn't answering.

"F uck." Zayn cursed when a cat zipped out of nowhere, running right past our feet and down the hall. Zayn nearly jumped on me, his hands gripping my arm.

"It's just a cat." I said, rolling my eyes at Zayn.

"I noticed." Zayn grumbled, letting go of my arm. We walked around the front area only to come up empty.

"Jonah?" I tried, not really sure if I would get an answer but it was worth a shot.

"Daddy?" A muffled voice called back, making both Zayn and I stop in our tracks.

"Jo?!" I called out again, my heart beginning to race at the mere sound of what I thought was Jonah.

"Daddy!" The voice called out again, louder this time. It was coming from a door in the kitchen. I opened it to reveal a basement with all its lights on. I didn't care if there was someone down there, I could hear Jonah screaming for me so I ran down them with Zayn right behind me. I came into the basement to see it was fully furnished with three people sitting in there.

One of them was dead.

Ashton lay on the ground, his eyes wide open and blood dried to the corner of his mouth.

Laci was sitting in the corner of the room holding Jonah tightly, dried blood covering both of their faces. She looked at me with wide terrified eyes, silent tears rolling down her face as she did so.

"Holy shit." Zayn whispered, covering his mouth when he caught sight of Ashton. I pulled out my phone, handing it to him.

"Call the police..." I whispered, blinking back tears as I looked away from Ashton. I couldn't look at him...

"Daddy?!" Jonah moved away from Laci, looking frantically around the room for me. I let out a chocked sob before walking over to him, lifting him up off the bed.

"I got you Jo. I got you." I whispered, holding him as close as I possibly could. Jonah didn't cry, he simply held onto my neck and buried his face into my shoulder. I opened my eyes to be met with Laci's brown ones. She still looked so scared...

"Come here Laci..." I whispered, holding my hand out for her. She took it with no hesitation, gripping it as tight as she could.

"Let's get them out of here... I have no idea how long they've been down here." I told Zayn. He nodded as he spoke on the phone, alerting the police of our situation. Once we were upstairs, Laci's grip on my hand tightened. Confused, I looked down at her.

"What's wrong Laci?" I asked, but then there was the click of a gun being cocked. I instantly stiffened, my grip on Jonah becoming tighter. Jonah's breathing increased, a sense of danger coming over the little boy. I took a deep breath before turning to look.

"Maura." I whispered, honestly not that surprised. She simply smiled.

"Stand up and put the boy down." She said, gesturing towards Jonah.

"You don't have to do this." I said, not wanting to let Jonah go.

"Well you see... I kinda do. I already tied up on lose end, I'm not afraid to tie up two more." She was still smiling, her finger already squeezing the trigger. I felt my breathing stop, and I turned around so that if she shot me it wouldn't hit Jonah.

Suddenly there was a large crash, making everyone in the room jump.

"What is with you f ucking Horans being so f ucking crazy?!" Zayn yelled from the ground, pinning Maura down. I looked at him in disbelief before grabbing the gun that had fallen to the ground. Maura was trying her hardest to get away from Zayn, but it was of no use.

It took the police two minutes to show, but when they did they took care of Maura.

Niall met me at the scene, eyes filled with hope when he saw us. He ran to us, throwing his arms around the both of us before sobbing into my shoulder.

"You f ucking idiot." He cried, holding onto me just as tight as Jonah. I simply smiled before kissing the side of his head.

"But I'm your idiot... always gonna be yours."

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Jonah's back!

And it didn't take Connie three days to update

And it wasn't a cliff hanger.

You're welcome!

And thanks for all those who casted a vote for the cover :) it was a lot easier to choose that way lol

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